Kids cast lines at fishing derby

Published 1:00 am, Sunday, May 21, 2006

DANBURY - Lined along the shores of Candlewood Lake in the Danbury Town Park Saturday morning, more than 200 youngsters cast their lines for "the big one."

With help from parents and grandparents, the children hoped to get a bite or two from the lake's denizens - anything from perch to trout to bass to bluegills.
On a sunny, but somewhat windy day, they were taking part in the
Danbury Fish and Game Association
's 35th annual Kids Fishing Derby. Organizers said the crowd was the largest in the history of the derby.
"We want to get these kids started early," said the association's President
Bob Pennell
. "Hopefully someday they'll be Danbury Fish and Game members and they'll keep the derby going."
The Association, founded in 1912, has 61 members and holds the Kid's Fishing Derby free of charge with the help of about two dozen sponsors in the greater Danbury area. Free food is part of the three-hour event and every child gets a trophy. Prizes of tackle boxes and fishing poles also are given to children who are the first to catch fish.
One of those youngsters was 8-year-old

Eve Haklay
, of Mahopac, N.Y., who was at the derby with her 5-year-old brother, Max, two of her cousins and her grandparents, Kenneth and
Nancy Carlson
, of Danbury.
"I felt good because I was the first one in my group to catch a fish," said Eve, who received a purple fishing pole for the bluegill she caught.
Fishing, Nancy Carlson said, is a good way to enjoy family time together.
"It's such a nurturing experience to have them together, and it's so exciting to watch them bring in the fish. They're so happy."
For one 9-year-old girl at the derby, the best part of fishing was being with her father. By mid-morning Brooke Pisacich still hadn't caught a fish but that didn't matter. Brooke said she enjoyed fishing with her dad.
Brooke's friend, 9-year-old

Sam Perkowski
, also hadn't caught anything but had "three good nibbles." The fish got away, Sam said, because she "tried to reel them in real fast and they bit off half the worm and I lost them."
Bill Baywood
, of Bethel, and his 9-year-old son, Matthew, have been fishing together for five years but they had never came to the Kid's Fishing Derby. "It's our first time here," said Baywood, who brought his son "so my boy could have some fun."
Matthew, who was using a spinning combination rod with both live and artificial bait, was having fun.
"I love the fishing with my dad," he said.
That attitude pleases
Walt Regan
, a longtime member of the Danbury Fish and Game Association. The Kid's Fishing Derby, Regan said, "is a fun day, a kid day. And we've never been rained out."